The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 374

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 374

Part 2, Episode 40.

‘…Bluffing, you say?’

Was it because of Dohyun’s confident appearance?

For a moment, Ivark couldn’t answer and just stood there with a dazed expression.

It was because he had been hit where it hurt.

Since Ivark rarely had conversations with others, he was even more clumsy at hiding things.

“…Of course it is. You have no way to break through my undead legion, do you?”

After thinking for a moment, Ivark decided to brazenly push forward, but it was futile.

To Dohyun, who already knew the answer, it just looked like pathetic bluffing.

“Undead legion my ass… just destroy the core and they’re done.”

Flinch. At the word “core,” Ivark could no longer hide it and trembled greatly.

‘H-how does that guy know…?’

There was no such thing as a true undead legion in the world.

Unless you were a powerhouse of the Abyss, it was logically impossible.

If there was someone who appeared undead, there was another trick behind it.

Ivark was one of those cases.

He had created a legion that appeared undead using the trick called a core and appropriate characteristics.

‘…No. How he found out doesn’t matter. Golems commonly have cores, right? He must have just guessed lucky.’

It was true that he had panicked momentarily when his secret was instantly seen through, but only briefly.

Ivark quickly calmed his mind.

No, beyond calming down, he even wore a mocking smile as if it were ridiculous.

“Kehehehe… Fine, I’ll admit it. There are cores indeed. But… so what? Does knowing that change anything?”

Were his golems some common golems scattered everywhere?

Just because they had cores didn’t mean all cores were the same.

“Do you think my golems are the same as those pathetic ordinary golems?”

“Well, a core is a core. I’m not really curious.”

“No! My golem’s core is special.”

Was he scratched by Dohyun’s attitude of consistently ignoring him while picking his ear?

Ivark, possessed like a developer whose life’s work had been disparaged, began listing the core’s features without being asked.

“My core has an incomparably smaller size than those pathetic others. Such a core constantly moves throughout the golem’s body… if even slightly damaged, its position immediately changes and it even regenerates, boasting tremendous performance…”

The explanation was too long, so to summarize:

“So in other words, you absolutely must destroy it accurately in one shot?”

“Yes, exactly!”

Perhaps pleased with that simple and clear summary, Ivark clapped his hands.

He looked as if his frustration had been relieved and he felt refreshed.

Certainly, just from the explanation, it was an absurdly overpowered core.

A cutting-edge performance core that wouldn’t make sense without the help of magical engineering.

‘Perfect for spending all day fighting golems and ending it there.’

Moreover, those golems didn’t even consume mana.

Regeneration, division, and physical enhancement were all characteristics of the golems, so they didn’t consume Ivark’s mana.

Probably only enough mana to maintain the initial seven summoned golems would be used.

On the other hand, this side was Jihad, notorious for lacking mana.

Even Dohyun himself often found his many mana reserves insufficient, so a prolonged battle would be overwhelmingly disadvantageous.

“Kehehehe… But even that is impossible. It’s realistically impossible.”

Furthermore, the golem’s core was blocked by very thick rock.

As he said, breaking through that and destroying the core in one blow was impossible.

Probably the original strategy wasn’t that either.

It would be about somehow stopping the summoner before a prolonged battle or utilizing something else.

But…

“Who says so? That it’s impossible.”

“…What?”

Just because that was the general strategy didn’t mean Dohyun had to follow it.

[Eye of Truth activates.]

Especially if it was Dohyun with God’s eyes.

Seeing the clearly revealed core location, Dohyun grinned and took position with Cheonbyeon.

A stance like shooting a bow.

[Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes) transforms into ‘Archer’s Bow that Pierced the Cliff.’]

Then Cheonbyeon, which had been a white sword, changed into a graceful curved bow.

Just with that, the stance that had been somewhat awkward while holding a sword became extremely natural.

Though not a professionally learned stance, it showed the presence of a hunter with much experience.

“…It’s, it’s bluffing.”

“Right.”

His eyes didn’t seem to consider failure at all.

Eyes gleaming with deep conviction.

Like a predator slowly approaching prey caught in a trap.

Just slowly drawing the bowstring, yet the chilling sight made Ivark’s complexion grow anxious.

‘It’s bluffing. It can’t be possible. My core is perfect!’

Perfect technology combining his life’s research results with Orga’s magical engineering.

He could proudly call it the ultimate core.

He truly believed he had greatly approached the realm of immortality.

‘Ah…’

But why was it?

The more he looked into that man’s eyes, the more his pride withered.

Finally, overwhelmed in presence, Ivark squeezed his eyes shut and shouted urgently.

“St-stop that guy from shooting the bow!”

Kugugugu- Kueo-!

Then the golems, receiving the command, rushed desperately toward Dohyun.

Five out of eight golems were charging.

Being creatures of massive build, the distance closed quickly with just a few steps, but unfortunately, they couldn’t get closer than 20 meters.

Kuuung-!

Ueo! Ueoueoueo!

[2nd Legion Commander ‘Ugeo’ equips exclusive weapon ‘Adbarum Club.’]

-Nice, Ugeo! Well done!

-Rizariza!

Ugeo with his exclusive weapon and his subordinate undead charged to intercept the golems.

Among them, Ugeo’s performance was tremendous.

Ueoeo-!

Kwagagaga-

With a build that didn’t yield to the golems at all, each swing of his club sent the golems flying back greatly with parts of their bodies shattered.

Though only a few seconds, that was enough time.

Shuaaak-!

It was more than enough time for Dohyun, who had precisely aimed at the core, to release the string.

The released arrow flew through the air with fierce cutting power,

Puuk-

And struck near the golem’s shoulder like a magnet.

Not a very loud impact sound.

If anything, it felt like sticking a dart needle into a target board, but the scene that unfolded afterward was truly tremendous.

Wareu-

The golem disintegrated into stones and collapsed with disappointing ease.

That was the end.

Complete death with no regeneration or division.

A moment of silence followed, and what filled that silence was a cheerful notification that didn’t suit the situation.

[You have destroyed the core.]

[You have perfectly defeated Ivark’s Corrupted Rock Golem.]

“Good God. Th-this is absolutely ridiculous…!”

And almost simultaneously, Ivark let out an exclamation of shock.

His voice trembled violently as if he couldn’t believe it.

Though his face wasn’t visible, his eyes were surely shaking as if struck by an earthquake.

“My, my core… the perfect core… Th-this can’t be. This can’t be happening… This is a dream. This is impossible. My life’s research…!”

“Nice, that felt good. It’s great shooting after so long.”

While Ivark, whose life’s work had been denied in an instant, muttered like a madman, Dohyun simply smiled refreshingly and drew his bowstring again.

“N-no… don’t let him destroy any more of my cores! Stop him somehow! Stop him!”

Growing desperate, Ivark now sent all his escort golems toward Dohyun.

Of course, he didn’t send them without any countermeasures.

[Ivark casts rock shields on the golems.]

[The rock shields protect the cores.]

Rock shields the size of heads moved around the golems’ bodies.

They moved following the cores to protect their bodies.

It was practically announcing the location of the cores, but it was Ivark’s best choice.

For some unknown reason, that man could clearly see through to the cores.

‘If there are obstacles, he won’t be able to destroy them. If I can just drag this into a long battle…!’

But that hope was mercilessly crushed.

[The ‘Brutal Shot’ option of the ‘Bow of the Archer Who Pierced Cliffs’ activates.]

[Fires an arrow that pierces through obstacles in a straight trajectory. The types and range of objects that can be pierced are proportional to the wearer’s strength.]

The moment a heavy aura suddenly gathered around the arrow that had been flying normally.

[The rock shield is an obstacle that can be pierced with the wearer’s strength.]

Kwagagagaga!!

The arrow pierced through the shield like tofu.

And it wasn’t just the shield.

[Ivark’s Corrupted Rock Golem is an obstacle that can be pierced with the wearer’s strength.]

[The core is an obstacle that can be pierced.]

[Ivark’s Corrupted Rock Golem is an obstacle that can be pierced with the wearer’s strength.]

…

“…Huh?”

-My goodness.

-Rizariza!

-Hmm…!?

As if piercing the shield wasn’t enough, the arrow continued to pierce through the golems and cores behind it.

It destroyed them so cleanly that even Dohyun, the perpetrator, was dumbfounded.

If the perpetrator had such a reaction, what about the victim?

“…???”

Perhaps it felt so unreal that he couldn’t even feel shock.

Countless question marks appeared above Ivark’s head.

Earlier the arrow had timidly embedded itself and precisely destroyed the core, so he had attached shields, but now why was it destroying everything?

‘…That’s an archer?’

In all his life, he had never seen an archer who shot such brutish arrows.

Dohyun felt the same way.

‘…No, the power I saw before wasn’t like this?’

The villain he had faced back then had at most destroyed rocks, but this was almost legendary skill level.

Unlike agility-focused archers, was it because Dohyun had invested most in strength?

Or was it because the option had been enhanced when it became Unique Legend grade due to Heavenly Transformation?

‘It might be both…’

Dohyun swallowed dryly.

The 10-minute cooldown and the narrow range requiring targets to be in an almost perfectly straight line were disappointing, but…

Even considering that, the penetrating power was tremendous.

Kwagagagagak-

Thud.

The arrow that everyone had been watching in a daze finally stopped after piercing through a total of four golems.

In an instant, only three golems remained.

But even those golems couldn’t really be considered remaining.

Grroooar-

Clack clack!

All three remaining golems were tied up by Jihad’s Undead Legion.

In other words, there were no golems left to protect Ivark.

“Left all alone?”

“…Ah.”

Dohyun and Ivark grasped the situation almost simultaneously.

Seeing Ivark backing away, Dohyun gave him a good-natured smile.

“If you have nothing more to show, shall we go in first this time?”

“W-wait… Kuhek! J-just a moment, that hurt…!”

As the sound of beating echoed through the cave, Jihad shook his head with an expression of empathy.

-Ugh, I know exactly how that feels.

-R-Risa…

-Hmm, Master’s fist work is always excellent. The way he precisely targets only the painful spots – even if he had become a martial artist instead of a swordsman, he would have become a hero.

-Charlie, you wouldn’t say that if you had been hit too.

At Jihad’s words that made him nauseous, Charlie, who briefly watched Ivark crying “Ahhh! That hurt!”, nodded.

-…Hmm. It is a bit pitiful.

Charlie does not lie.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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